Attorneys, Accountants, Commercial Realtors, and Insurance Agents

At Family Legacy Concepts, we coordinate and add to the professional services provided to our clients by their Attorneys, Accountants, Commercial Realtors, and/or Insurance Agents. The FLC role is to build on the effectiveness of these specialized professional advisors, and to bring the team into integrated and focused action. When you start your relationship with Family Legacy Concepts, it will work well for you to introduce your FLC planner to your other advisors. This facilitates the smoothest interaction among the parties.

Attorneys

The standard degree for attorneys, upon completion of 3 years of law school is a Juris Doctor (J.D.). You may find additional value provided by attorneys who extend their education to include a Degree named the Masters of Law. This takes an additional year of full-time academics. The name of this credential is LL.M., representing the Latin words Legum Magister. Master degrees are concentrated on a particular topic. Our allied attorneys have Taxation and Estate Planning specialties.

As one of our consultative lawyers describes it:

“Estate planning is a process that allows you to appoint a representative to make financial and medical decisions for you, if you become incapacitated; choose a guardian for your minor children; choose who will get your property and how you would like it transferred at your death; and finally to set things up in a way that minimizes taxes and prevent your assets from going through a lengthy probate process.”

Another states on his LinkedIn profile:

“I frequently advise people on their wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and more sophisticated estate planning techniques. … I frequently give advice on … litigation in the Probate Court concerning disputes over will and trusts, and handling conservator and guardianships through the Probate Court.”

Certified Public Accountants

The educational requirements for Certified Public Accountants is 150 semester hours that mixes accounting with business and general education. Typically one additional year after a 4-year Bachelors program accomplishes this. CPAs must pass the 4 sections of the accounting exam, with typical study time of over 100 hours for each.

Enrolled Agents (EA) can represent tax-payers with the IRS, often being deployed after someone else originally filed the tax return in question. They must pass 3 additional sections of examinations. Something in the neighborhood of 200 study hours may be required to obtain this credential.

Consider utilizing a proactively-oriented CPA, who helps you to anticipate and to make tax-smart maneuvers over multi-year periods. Many of the most potent tax and insurance strategies involve much more time than one income tax year.

At Family Legacy Concepts, we are sensitive to the busy seasons of annual income tax filing, with the deadlines of April 15 and October 15 (October 16 in 2017). We make every effort to communicate with clients’ accountants in a helpful and non-disruptive manner.

Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)

The education component of earning the CCIM designation includes a four-course curriculum, an online ethics course, negotiation training, and elective courses. Designation candidates must submit a portfolio of qualifying activities, transactions, projects, or work products. This portfolio can be in one of three forms, depending on the level of experience and the type of work that will be included. Transactional portfolios must meet minimum volume requirements by millions of dollars amounts and/or number of qualifying transactions.

The Comprehensive Exam is a full-day exam testing the candidate's mastery of the concepts introduced in the core CCIM courses.

For information is availabe at www.ccim.com.

Insurance Agents

In South Carolina, the ongoing Life, Accident, and Health (LA&H) insurance agent requirements include biennial 21 hours of general Continuing Education and 3 hours of Ethics CE, along with annual renewal state and recordkeeping fees. The initial requirements include a 40-hour preparation course. Annuity product training is required, on a product-specific level. Initial and ongoing Long Term Care (LTC) insurance education is required of agents offering LTC insurance.

To learn more about the insurance regulation in your state, use a web browser search engine to go to NIPR.com

Insurance Agents must also maintain current education in Anti-Money Laundering practices.

Quick Links

Check the background of your financial professional on FINRA's BrokerCheck.

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